Pictures

Fichera Family.. They are the best!

Reminded me of the cliff from Pride and Prejudice

The view.. No fair, right?

Map of Sicily apron :)

Love you all!

Transfer calls!

Buongiorno!

This week went by so fast. I don't even understand how it is the end of September already. And saying I only have 14 months left scares me a bit. So, I will continue pretending like I still have 18 months. How about that?

This last p-day consisted of shopping down via etnea, which is downtown touristy part of Catania. I didn't buy anything, but it made me really excited to go shopping when I get home. Because right now, I am so sick of my clothing. It probably doesn't help that Sorella Defranchi looks like a beauty queen everyday (because all she wears are pencil skirts), and it makes me feel like a frumpy dresser sometimes.. Back to the point, I am really excited to go shopping. According to one of our investigators, it is not appropriate to wear jeans and a t-shirt when you are 22 years old. Oops! I guess I missed out on that memo. 

Tuesday morning, I actually woke up cold. Yes, I typed that correctly. I was COLD. I was pretty sure that cold didn't exist anymore. But, it does! Woohoo! It was also cooler all week, so I could actually wear sweats. I suppose sweats are definitely not appropriate if jeans aren't. But, I won't give up jeans or sweats. Also, now that it is towards the end of September, a lot more people are out and about going to school and work and so the buses are so full. That makes them even less desirable to ride, so thank goodness the sea is causing a beautiful breeze that makes it very pleasant to walk. :) 

Oh, also on Monday, we found this genuine leather store.. And Sorella Defranchi found a purse she wanted, and I found a wallet I wanted, but I'm too cheap. It was 85 euros. Hopefully someday I will serve in Rome where the leather stores are much cheaper. I also want to serve in Bari because there is this men's clothing store with Italian ties for 15 euros, because they love missionaries. I think it would be the perfect gift for the special men in my life. :) 

Wednesday in DDM, we did transfer predictions because it was week 5 of the transfer! I was pretty sure there would be a lot of changes this transfer, but I honestly didn't know where anybody was going or who would be coming here. Looks like I was right though! Everyone in the district likes to freak me out by saying I'll be training or sister training leader every time transfers happen. I'm like, "come on people, this is only going to be my 3rd transfer. That never happens." But, scroll to the big letters for transfer call results. ;) 

We also had a ward activity at the church. It was geared towards members helping missionaries, and we based little activities off of a talk given by Gordon B. Hinckley in the 1990's. Someone had the idea to invite less active members and non members to this activity as well. I, for one, did not think that would be the greatest idea because of what the activity was. But nobody listens to me. Oh well. Maybe they will next time. :) The activity did go well, and the 20 members who did show up seemed to enjoy it. 

Thursday, we were planning on having a lesson in the morning, but nobody was responding. So, we did a bit of 12 weeks. We are almost done with it, and I couldn't be happier. Then we figured bus times out to Motta because we had a lesson at the Clarks place near the base with these two really great people. Destiny and Brandon are dating and are both part of the U.S. Navy. Brandon is no longer a member of the church, but he still has a strong testimony and he knows it is true. Destiny began to come to church and has a belief that Joseph Smith could be a prophet and she began to read the Book of Mormon. They've known the Clarks since March, but the Clarks thought it would be best if they had us (people the same age) teach her the official lessons, and Thursday was our first lesson with them. They are fantastic people, and I'm really excited to continue teaching them. They also obviously speak English. Switching the lessons from Italian to English is actually more difficult than you would think. The Clarks are also really pushing for her to get baptized before they leave in 2.5 weeks. However, we don't think that will happen. I don't think it is a good idea to rush someone to be baptized just because you want to baptize them/be there. But, I LOVE the Clarks! They are amazing people! And I loved them before they gave us a whole bunch of American food, but now I love them more. :) 

Friday, we did a district blitz in Enna. So we rode the bus up which took an hour and a half, and then we ate and we were supposed to go to this piazza to do a mostra which is similar to a gesso or the chalk thing I talked about last week. But, this woman came for her own separate English course and we needed to teach her while the anziani did the mostra. In the end, we were grateful we didn't do the mostra, because I forgot about the change in altitude from Catania to Enna. It was quite chilly, and I didn't have a jacket. Then we rode the bus home for another hour and a half. I guess it was productive because we did try to teach the English course student the restoration. She just wasn't interested as her family tradition is to be catholic, but she honestly doesn't know why she is Catholic. (This does not make sense to me!) Maybe she will soften her heart. Also, the anziani are lucky as for the views off the balcony of their apartment. It is absolutely gorgeous! See panoramic picture.. But, the work in Enna is struggling. They have 2 members. One that is active, and one that is less active. So in that sense, they aren't so lucky. 

TRANSFER CALL RESULTS: 

Sorella Defranchi is going to Rome 1. She is very very very excited! The 3 verys is still an understatement.

I am staying in Catania and my new companion is Sorella Decker. She dies in 2 transfers and so I will probably only be here in Catania for 6 more weeks. Sad, but the next 6 weeks are going to be so great! Hopefully, we will have 3 baptisms with Claudio, Angela, and Destiny. :) I have heard good things about Sorella Decker, so I am excited too! 

Anziano Pope is staying and Anziano Covalt is leaving to somewhere in the bottom of the boot. 

Anziano Krogue is staying in Enna (poor guy), and Anziano Slade is off to Terni. Lots and lots and lots of changes, so this next Thursday will be insane!

Although, I have decided that I am going to hate saying goodbye to everyone in 6 weeks as I watch Sorella Defranchi. You truly do come to love the people you teach. :(

Saturday night, we had dinner with Kiran. And it was delicious! I don't know what she does to her rice, but it always tastes good even without sauce, so I asked her... And she does nothing different. I feel like Jake and the rice in Peru in this situation. It just tastes different. :) but, I ate pineapple for the first time all cut up and not cooked on top of pizza. And I ate fried, creamed cauliflower. Obviously, they weren't my favorite.. But Kiran never believes me when I tell her it is good, and I don't know why. I don't even make weird faces. 

Then, on Sunday.. We got to go to sigonella again! Yay! Haha.. We were going to have a lesson with Destiny and Brandon for the second hour and last hour of church. They only have sacrament meeting and the third hour there. And it just happened to be the Sunday for the linger longer. How lucky is that? ;) haha.. Score for American food!

Anyways, back to the lesson! It was incredible! :) We taught the plan of salvation, and I love teaching Destiny. She isn't afraid of asking questions and her questions take a lot of thought on our part and you can tell that she is listening and soaking it all in. It makes it fun to teach when the people are actually interested in listening and learning. Anyways, the lesson got to the end, and one of the things she didn't understand was why people who didn't follow Jesus Christ and still sinned and didn't repent still go to the telestial kingdom. The others were trying to come up with a coherent answer when the Holy Ghost told me what I needed to say. It wasn't anything new, but I explained how everyone who came to earth made at least one decision to follow and accept Jesus Christ as their savior in the pre-mortal life and the telestial kingdom is the reward for that one decision. It is still another testimony builder that Heavenly Father truly does know exactly how to help us. He is aware of the lessons we are teaching as we go to him in prayer, and he loves the people we are teaching. He desires them to come to him, and he is holding his arms out to welcome them home. I am so lucky and so blessed to be able to witness this marvelous work unfold and see it bless the lives of the people I am coming to love more and more each and every day. 

This week, I was asked to give the big 20 minute lesson at district meeting. Aah! Haha.. So, as my companion plays paintball today, I will be working on that and watching. I'm still not sure why shooting guns with balls of paint that leave welts on your skin can sound so fun. But, yeah. Maybe, I'm just crazy. 

Two other things this week: Prayer is beginning to become so much more meaningful in my life. Guaranteed, it helps that my Italian prayers get better every day as I listen and learn from others, but true prayer is so powerful. In Alma 8:10, it says that Alma labored in mighty prayer. I've been reading in the institute manual for the Book of Mormon as I read, and there was a quote that I really liked by Joseph B. Wirthlin. He said, "Prayers that do not demand much of your thought will hardly merit much attention from Heavenly Father." And it is so true. As I have been praying for other people, my love grows for them. My prayers are so much more meaningful when they don't focus on me me me and everything that I need. Because I know that as I leave me, the Elizabeth Flansberg that I was, behind, I become more aware of the needs of the people around me, and as I show my love to them, I will receive the help I need to carry on. The other thing I really liked this week was based off of Alma 5:12-14. Pres. Benson said, "Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world." And President Lee said something along the lines of, "Men captained by Christ set fires in others because they themselves are on fire."As the verses say, there was a mighty change wrought in their hearts. As I do my best to follow Christ, Christ will change me, and when I change, I can then change the world. How powerful of a promise is that? If I use the atonement and if every time I fall down, I get back up again, I will change, and then my example will influence the people around me. When I have the light or "fire" of Christ within me, I can share that light with others just like a candle. I love how the word "mighty" is used in both of those verses. Mighty prayer and a mighty change of heart. I have firmly come to believe this week that mighty prayer brings a mighty change of heart, and a mighty change of heart makes for a mighty daughter (or son) of God. As I said before, I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to serve a mission. I have grown so much in the last 4 months and my testimony has sky rocketed. I know my Savior lives, and because he lives, I can change and let him live in me. 

Have a fantastic week everybody. And be safe, be good, be nice, be the best that you can be, and make good choices. :) 

Vi voglio tanto bene! :) 

Sorella Flansberg

Il mio primo discorso

Che cos'è la fede?

Alma 32:21 dice che la fede non è l'avere una conoscenza perfetta
delle cose; perciò, se avete fede, sperate in cose che non si vedono,
ma che sono vere.

In Predicare Il Mio Vangelo, dice che dovremmo avere la fede in Gesù Cristo.

Avere fede in Cristo significa fidarsi a Lui ed essere certi
dell'amore che Egli nutre per noi. Dio opera mediante il Suo potere,
che però di solito è esercitato in risposta alla fede.

In Gesù il Cristo, dice che Dio è sotto l'influenza e sotto controllo
dalla nostra fede. Se abbiamo la fede, non può negare le benedizione
da noi.

Non so per voi, ma io voglio le benedizione. E il solo requisito è che
noi abbiamo la fede. Ma la fede è più di una credenza.

Noi impariamo da Giacomo che, "Così è della fede; se non ha opere, è
per se stessa morta."

La fede è una credenza che ci fa agire. Noi agiamo tramite il
pentimento, il battesimo, il conferimento del dono dello spirito
santo, e perseverando sino alla fine. Noi abbiamo la fede in Gesù
Cristo quando osserviamo i comandamenti. Quando gli osserviamo, Dio ci
promette che ci benedirà.

Mentre ero nel MTC, ho imparato due lezione specifiche riguardo come
la fede funziona. Primo, i dubbi indebolono la fede. Il terzo giorno
nel MTC, abbiamo insegnato una lezione in Italiano alla nostra
simpatizzante. Siccome conoscevo solo poche frase in Italiano, la
lezione non è andata molto bene. Iniziavo ad avere dubbi che potrei
imparare l'Italiano. Questi dubbi facevano male alla mia fede. Ho
imparato che ho bisogno di contare su Gesù Cristo, e tramite lui,
tutte le cose sono possibile. C'è una scrittura in Marco 9:23-24.
"E Gesù: Dici: se puoi?! Ogni cosa è possibile a chi crede. Io credo:
sovvieni alla mia incredulità."
Anche se la nostra fede non è perfetta, se contiamo su Gesù Cristo,
lui ci aiuterà con la nostra incredulità.

La seconda lezione che ho imparato è in Mormon 8:24.
24 Ed egli conosce le loro preghiere, che erano in favore dei loro
fratelli. E conosce la loro fede, poiché nel suo nome potevano
rimuovere le montagne, e nel suo nome potevano far tremare la terra; e
mediante il potere della sua parola fecero crollare a terra le
prigioni; sì, perfino le fornaci ardenti non poterono nuocer loro, né
le bestie selvagge, né i serpenti velenosi, a motivo del potere della
sua parola.

This is talk Elizabeth gave in church a few weeks ago.  It is written in Italian.


Noi siamo i figli di Dio. Lui ci conosce. Lui ci ama. E io so che se
abbiamo fede e abbiamo i desideri giusti, potremo rimuovere le
montagne. Sono stata chiamata a servire una missione cui in Italia. E
ho un desiderio per imparare l'Italiano, affinché io possa condividere
un messaggio della pace alle persone. E perché ho fede in Gesù Cristo,
so che lui mi aiuta.

Allora, come facciamo crescere la nostra fede? In inglese, diciamo che
prendiamo un salto di fede. Quando prendiamo un salto, i nostri piedi
lasciano la sicurezza della terra e voliamo tramite l'aria. Quando
prendiamo un salto di fede, lasciamo la sicurezza delle cose che
sappiamo, e entriamo nelle cose che non sappiamo. E alla nostra
sorpresa, le cose che non sapevamo poter essere meglio che le cose che
sapevamo, lo sono.

Il profeta Alma diceva che "Se voi risveglierete e stimolerete le
vostra facoltà, si, per un esperimento sulle mie parole, ed
eserciterete una particella di fede, anche se non poteste fare
null'altro che desiderare di credere, lasciate che questo desiderio
operi in voi fino a che crediate, in modo che possiate far posto a una
porzione delle mie parole."

Se abbiamo un desiderio di credere, e prendiamo un salto di fede, la
quale è un azione, noi faremo crescere la nostra fede. Credo che
mentre esercitiamo la fede nelle nostre vite, verremo più vicino a
Gesù Cristo e Padre Celeste. E io so che loro ci benediranno.

Perché sto imparando l'Italiano, e credo che la musica sia una lingua
internazionale, vorrei suonare una canzone sul pianoforte per voi. È
la mia preferita, e penso che mostra la mia fede semplice per il mio
salvatore Gesù Cristo.

Io dico queste cose nel nome di Gesù Cristo, Amen.

Pictures!

The GESSO!

The Vincenzo Bellini opera house.. And the overused prop.. ;)

And these are my 6 euro Chinese store shoes that I had to throw away because they were cheap. They were cute while they lasted! :) but I learned my lesson not to buy shoes there again.

Love you all!

Sorella Defranchi caught one of me proselyting. :)

Week 5, transfer 2

Hello family and friends!

I'm really feeling the "missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience" this week. But just because this week has been a bit difficult does not mean I haven't seen any blessings. Because I have. They are always there. Like a sliver of sunshine hiding in the clouds. And I find myself being grateful for the little things. 

On Monday for p-day, the anziani wanted to go bowling again. It looks like I made a few friends with my bowling idea last week. I also think Anz. Pope just wanted to beat me.. Which he did, but I am blaming it on the fact that I still didn't feel 100 percent healthy. We tied the first game at 114. Then, that evening we went to help this lady call her grandson who only speaks English about some family problems. She took the lessons before and was not interested. She is like full on Catholic, but she is always willing to have us share a short, let me repeat... Short spiritual thought with her. This time we talked about prophets and how general conference is coming up soon! Side note: I am so excited for general conference!!! Although listening in Italian, we'll just have to see how that goes.. She thought it was interesting that we have a living prophet, so next time we go we will show her a talk by President Monson. 

Tuesday was absolutely crazy! We had an appointment with a less active that morning who believes in reincarnation now, so we were going to teach her about the plan of salvation. Speaking of which: there was something I really liked in the pamphlet for that lesson. It says, "when we choose to follow Christ, and keep his commandments, we grow in wisdom and we strengthen our character" or something along those lines. Ever since I watched the character of Christ in the MTC, the idea of a person's character has been so intriguing to me. Elder Bednar described character as the moral qualities of a person that are consistently lived, strongly developed, and strikingly displayed. How cool that we can strengthen our character of being a disciple of Jesus Christ by following his example. Back to the lesson. We ended up walking to the street she lives on when we remembered that we had forgotten our phone so we didn't have the number of where she lives. The street was pretty short, so instead of walking back, we rang on citofones all the way down the street to see if anybody knew where this woman lived, but I guess nobody knows their neighbors because nobody knew her. Va beh, oh well. We'll straighten the reincarnation thing out some other time. :) Then, we ate lunch and did lingua and we had a lesson planned with the proposal man. We were a bit hesitant to go because of the awkward messages he had sent. But, we took pictures of our boyfriends with us.. My boyfriend, and Sorella Defranchi's ex.. She dug that one up real quick. ;) Anyways, it went alright. He tried to explain the proposal thing as a psalm, but we just said that we are representatives of Christ and should be treated as such. We then taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he still wants to be baptized.. He just needs to come to church, which he still didn't do. That is something else I have noticed. A lot of people will be willing to listen to us and they will feel the spirit and they think that what we are saying could be true, but they won't act on those feelings. I feel like Italians and maybe just Europeans in general because I see it in my companion sometimes too, or maybe it is just the human mentality, that they don't want to change. They close their minds that change is possible and that change can sometimes be better than the old routines of tradition. Not all the time, but I still think we should be open and willing to change things that are not contrary to our standards. It's what my mom and dad say.. Is it a preference or a principle? I mean obviously changing your life completely is hard, and I understand that most people don't like change, but I think we should remain open minded and when we decide to do something, we should do it wholeheartedly. :)

Then, the other thing from Tuesday. We met with Angela, our beautiful investigator who we haven't seen for 6 weeks because she was living 2 hours away. She told us that she wanted to be baptized!! We were so excited, and I really can't tell you how amazing she is. She just needs to tell her dad because her mom is okay with whatever decision she makes, but her dad is playing the "it's your decision.. But I will be disappointed if you choose one over the other." Why do parents do that anyways? :p Before you get too excited though, she is now just thinking about it again because of something that happened after our lesson. I will keep you guys in touch, but for now... Just keep her in your prayers. 

On Wednesday, we had DDM in the morning. And my mind was blown by this week's life tip. It kind of has something to do with the character of Christ. So, there are 3 types of good things. The first is that when you do something, it feels good while you do it, but there aren't any positive consequences afterwards. (Like smelling a flower). The second is that it doesn't necessarily make you feel good as you do it, but the positive consequences come afterwards. (Like working out). The third category is something that does both. Feels good when you do it, and reaps positive consequences after. So, we tried to prove that being righteous is in the 3rd category of good. We all know that when we are righteous, we get blessings... So we won't argue that point. That is defined. :) Anyways, so to evaluate the first point, one would have to be righteous without reaping the rewards. The question becomes, would a person be righteous even if everyone including God hated them for it? Well, the perfect person (Jesus Christ) did. Saying God hated Jesus Christ is a bit extreme, but he didn't take away the cup of the atonement from Christ. This proves that Jesus Christ was a righteous man for the sake of being righteous and not for the fact that he would receive blessings. So, to become a more Christlike person, we must do what is right because it is right. We must change our motivation for doing good. The natural man says, "what's in it for me?" Whereas Christ would not respond that way. This means we can ask ourselves.. Why am I doing this?" Is it to do good or is it to receive blessings? MIND BLOWN. :) 

Then I guess I shared my germs with Sorella Defranchi.. Oops! So, Wednesday was another sick day. 

Haha.. So because the bus schedule is so unpredictable here, we have come to the conclusion that unless we are going to the church (when the bus is unavoidable) that we will only take buses when we see them as we are walking. This sometimes turns into running after the buses in a skirt and sandals. It is a real fun hobby, and I recommend everyone try it out someday. I'm pretty sure that is the only time I wish I wore pencil skirts everyday so my skirt wouldn't flop up every time I run. Oh well. :) 

Also, random question: does adding more chocolate chips to a cookie recipe change the consistency of a cookie while it is cooking?

Thursday was like the most tiring day ever... We decided to do a gesso as the missionaries in Catania, so we found a piazza and we took a sheet and chalk and we drew some of the prophets from the bible, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, and Thomas S. Monson. I thought this was going to be really fun, and it was... sort of fun. I just wasn't aware of the fact that I would have to talk to people by myself in Italian. Luckily, but not luckily, most people would say they were too busy or say that they weren't interested, so I didn't have to say more than my original, "can I ask you a question?" So lots of rejection, and the people who did listen were patient with my Italian, but I made sure to say a prayer that night to give all the people I talked to another chance to come in contact with the gospel. ;) Haha.. It was a good experience. :) And we did it outside the Vincenzo Bellini Opera House which is super pretty, hence the picture. 

Then when we got home from English course, I went to the kitchen to eat and I saw one. I saw a cockroach. But, come to find out, there was a group of cockroaches, adults and babies all over our kitchen cabinets. Eek! I survived though... And I am just really glad we discovered them now because if it had been after this transfer when I might have a new companion, I probably would just sit in a corner crying... Pathetic, but cockroaches are disgusting. 

Something else really disgusting that happened this week is that the trash men in the not so great side of town where some of our less actives live went on strike. This means nobody came to pick up the trash and so the piles just grew and grew and grew and then sat in the hot sun and became extra stinky.. And it was nasty. I guess they went on strike because they don't get paid enough which happens quite often and so now I am seeing the benefits of having at least a minimum wage. And I don't know what the law is here in Italy, but it seems a lot of people don't get paid enough for the work they do.

Sunday, I had my first experience calling people on the phone. I wrote down what I was going to say beforehand, and my heart was beating so fast. I don't like talking on the phone to people in English, let alone in a language I have been speaking for 4 months. But, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The hard thing is that I understand more than I know how to reply, so if they asked a question that wasn't part of my script... Uh.... Here's my comp. She actually speaks Italian. ;) haha.. 

Something really eye opening that I did this week was picking out the different parts of my patriarchal blessing. Like who I am, promises, and warnings or things I need to do. It was a really cool way to see more in the blessing than I've seen before. The next time you read your patriarchal blessing, I recommend doing this. :) 

In my district, we have been focusing on how we need to recognize our talents, so we can develop them, and so we can bless others with our talents, and so we can keep them like in the parable. We talked about how we develop them and there are several steps, but my favorite was practicing. Practicing is the hardest, but it is the most necessary. We talked about how the act of doing something, like playing the piano, doesn't change, but our ability to play changes. This made me ponder something else, so going with the first sentence in this email, I've been pondering the atonement lately. I am also at the end of Mosiah with Book of Mormon reading. I love chapter 24 because it talks about the people of the city of Helam who were under the bondage of the Lamanites. In verse 12, the people cried to the Lord to take away their burden, but the Lord responded by saying that he would deliver them, but not right away. However, he did ease the burden. I was thinking how sometimes, most of the time, the Lord does not change our circumstances when we have trials, but he does strengthen us so it easier to bear them up so we can't feel them. I've decided serving a mission is always going to be hard. But I do believe that the missionary will change and be given strength from the Lord to carry on even when everything seems to be falling apart. I was also reading a talk called, The Windows of Heaven, by David A. Bednar. One thing I really liked in that talk is that sometimes blessings come in ways that we don't expect, and we can overlook them. Also that God sometimes gives us something that we didn't ask for because he knows what we need more than we do. I am so grateful for the enabling power of the atonement that changes me into a better person that can do harder things than I ever thought I could. 

I can't believe transfer calls are this week. In a week and a half, I am done being a greenie. Woohoo! Time is flying. I've been gone longer than a semester of school now, and it went so much faster than those 16 weeks at school. I love Italy and I love being a missionary even when it is hard. I love sharing my testimony with others. And I am grateful for all of the support. Thank you for all the prayers. I know that they have helped me in some way or another. 

Well, I love you all. Have a fantastic week! 

Love, 

Sorella Flansberg

WOW

Ciao ciao!

Synopsis of my week: the ex husbands return, the common cold, the
great flood, and marriage proposals... Sounds like a great week, yes?

Okay, this might be a bit shorter just because my comp doesn't have as
much to email today.. So, I apologize now...

Okay, Monday, as I said, we went BOWLING! :) And even though it was a
crappy bowling alley.. I got a 126. Woohoo! Oh, and it is super cheap.
Like 5 euros for 3 games. Anyways, it was really fun. And we took
pictures, but I forgot to get them onto my iPad..

Tuesday, it was rainy like all day which was so nice. It was just a
light sprinkle, and it was literally heavenly! We also heard that
Wednesday was going to be worse, but I think as I have said before...
That we don't believe the weather forecasts here. They are never
accurate... But, hehe.. It was. But back to Tuesday.. We went to see
Eleonora that afternoon and we were so glad we did! I guess she saw
her ex husband on the street, and that just made all the bad memories
explode and so she was a bit down in the dumps. But we were so glad
that we could bring the spirit into her home with our short little
message. :) Then we obviously had English course, and everyone thought
it was going to be cancelled because it was raining. I really do think
everybody here is made out of sugar or something. They don't like
being in the rain, and then me and Sorella Defranchi are partying
because we get to take out our boots! Haha...

Now for Wednesday.. We had DDM that morning. No rain.. My nose had
started to run because Anz. Covalt got me sick. No hard feelings..
But, I still felt okay that morning. But after DDM, my head felt like
a hot air balloon. So we went home and I took a nap.. And when I woke
up, it was literally pouring rain outside.. But, we were going to
starve real soon if we didn't go to the store, so we decided it wasn't
that bad, and walked the two or three blocks to the store only
crossing a minor puddle to get there. As I finished shopping, I looked
outside the window of the store, and there was a RIVER in the street.
So, I tell sister Defranchi and she's like, "oh, it can't be that
bad... Doo do doo doo. " As she continues shopping.. Our appointment
for that afternoon had cancelled, and by the time she finished and
moved to the front of the store, she looks outside and is like, "oh my
gosh. It is a river." So, we were stuck at the supermercato for 30
minutes as we waited for it to calm down. We finally decided at some
point that we really just needed to cross the river and then head
uphill and then it wouldn't be that bad. So, we went swimming... But
not really swimming. More like wading. And I also learned that my
waterproof boots aren't so waterproof in the swimming aspect. But, it
was fun. I guess that was the closest I will get to swimming in the
next more than a year of my life. Then, we stayed in the rest of the
night. One because of the rain, but two because I still didn't feel
well.

Then on Thursday, we had plans to go to Siracusa to do a scambio with
the sister training leaders. And that was so much fun. It was my first
time out of Catania in 2 months, and even though it was still in
Sicily and the people are crazy... Catania is the heaviest
concentration of crazy. I was with Sorella Thorpe this time, a fellow
American, and it was a blast. As much as I adore Sorella Defranchi, I
absolutely love scambios. 24/7 with the same person is literally like
having a permanent roommate. So, I got a new roommate for a few hours.

We taught English course in Siracusa and sometimes I wonder why they
have us teach it. Haha... The more we learn Italian, the more we suck
at English. Haha... I stared at the word "follow" for a good few
seconds before I realized that I had spelled it right.. So, now... I
feel like I suck at two languages. Haha.. I am sure Jacob knows how I
feel.

Then on Friday, we were still in Siracusa that morning, but we got
back to Catania that afternoon. Then we did weekly planning and we
went to see Jennifer. She was finally there, and it was so good to see
her again. We had a great lesson and then she told us that her ex
husband who was never really her husband in the first place because of
how they do "marriages in Africa" came back. He had been living up
near Rome after she kicked him out. And our lovely Jennifer gave him
some church books to read. She also gave us his phone number so the
anziani up in Terni could start teaching him and see if he had a
change of heart. She is amazing! On Sunday, we learned that Henry was
going to church.. Haha.. We'll see what comes of that. Jennifer
doesn't love him anymore, but she would marry him just for the sake of
her boys having a dad. Anyways, we love her to pieces and had a pretty
good laugh that she gave him a gospel principles book to read. :)

On Saturday, I assume I worked too hard on Thursday and Friday, and so
I felt so horrible. So we cancelled the lesson we were supposed to
have that morning.. And I slept. Then I also asked for a blessing from
the anziani. I had felt like I needed to get one just for comfort for
some odd reason.. I don't know, because I didn't feel like I needed to
be comforted... And so I ignored that prompting, but I kept thinking
about it again as I was sick.. So I finally got up the nerve to ask
even though I felt silly because it was just the common cold... But,
it turned out to be exactly what I needed. It said I need to rely on
the Lord's timing, and I quite honestly don't know why I have such a
problem with that.. But it also said that Heavenly Father will heal me
when he heals me. And as of yet, I am still sick. But capable enough
to slowly start getting back into the work. But again, I am so
grateful for the power of the priesthood and for great anziani that we
get to work with who were willing to give me a blessing. Then Sorella
Defranchi called the mission nurse and she told me that even if I felt
better that afternoon, that I should just stay inside and continue
resting.. Being sick on a mission sucks! We had to cancel 3 lessons!!!
:( But I also didn't want to get them sick. Comunque..

The exciting event on Saturday was that Sorella Defranchi had a
wedding proposal over a text... That is all I will tell you to protect
his identity... But she was a bit freaked out. Men here seriously do
not know how to handle seeing a pretty girl. They act like they have
never seen blonde people before.. But, please don't worry about me. I
have the Lord on my side. ;)

Sunday was normal for the most part. We had pranzo with a less active
family. I thought I told you all what a pranzo was.. But mom said I
hadn't. So, pranzo is the lunch break.. Kind of like the things Jake
had in South America. But pranzo is also the word for lunch.

Sorry for the shorter email. I love you all!

Love,

Sorella Flansberg

HOTNESS

Dear fellow Americans, 

This week I wrote my email in my notes so it wouldn't get deleted. Genius huh? ;) 

To start at the beginning of the week... Monday night, we had a lesson with Iole and Gesualdo. We were going to teach them the restoration, and then quickly escape so we could be home on time and they stayed at the Bruno's to watch Legacy. But something really cool happened to me in the lesson. We got to the part about the Book of Mormon and Sorella Defranchi began to talk about spiritual promptings which was slightly off script... So like a normal person learning a new language, I start to worry about how to say something intelligent so that I can contribute to the lesson.. It gets to be my turn to add something, and I somehow figured out the words to say it. I said, "the spirit is the best teacher". And Iole reaches inside her purse to get a piece of paper so she could write down what I said! Like what? This is the lady who I find to be slightly intimidating, and she learned something from the Holy Ghost through me! I know that it wasn't me who came up with that simple statement... And quite honestly, I don't think I could have told you the word for teacher before that lesson. But I knew it in the moment I needed it. I also think that is the first time that has ever happened to me, and it was such a testimony builder. :) 

Then on Monday night, we stayed up late cooking all the pasta for the specialized zone training the next day. I will tell you that I wasn't too thrilled about this... Especially since we only had one medium sized pot to cook pasta in. I was happy to help, but I still do think there could have been a better way to split up all the work. Oh, and the only reason we did do all of the cooking was because even after the zone leaders said we didn't need to help with anything, my serviceable loving little red hen (terms of endearment) companion said we would handle all the food. Um, that is 12 batches of pasta to cook.. And then she got upset when I asked the anziani for another pan.. Oh well. Small bump in the road.

Tuesday, we had specialized zone training and it was so so good. Maybe y'all saw pictures on the mission blog. But it was really focused on how we can teach the restoration better. I learned so much. Somewhere in preach my gospel, it says that the restoration is a diamond and how we need to teach it so that the investigators understand the apostasy. Like really understand it, and when that happens, the apostasy becomes black velvet and the diamond shines even more. Because if a person doesn't fully understand that after the death of Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles, the priesthood was taken off the earth, along with the fullness of the gospel... Then they won't understand why a restoration of those precious truths was necessary. 

Another thing I learned is that everything we teach in the church can all be stuffed under the one umbrella of "God loves us." All of the commandments, all the trials we have, the Book of Mormon and the Bible, the prophets, the restoration, the plan of salvation, and all the blessings we receive in our lives are all because God loves us. And that is why we teach it first. 

President Waddoups then spoke about fear. The main point was how as disciples of Christ, we have no need to fear, because he is with us always. If we rely on him, he will make us fearless at heart. This lesson was definitely needed as we had a few moments of extra time on Tuesday and we decided to do apartment contacting down our street. This means we stand outside and ring the citofone for every single apartment and move our way down the list as people walk by on the street staring at us. Somewhat humiliating... But we fear no men. :) 

So Wednesday had some interesting events.. We had a lesson with Angela B who is a new convert.. And we walk an hour to get to her place, but when we get to downtown Catania, we see masses of people heading towards St. Agatha church, and a whole bunch of flowers that had been run over by cars or stepped on by people. As we got closer, we realized that it was a funeral. So we started to ask around to see who died because it seemed like he was someone who was really important. It was a big deal. But I guess it was this 21 year old guy who died in a car accident because his friend had been drinking. We asked this one girl who it was, and she just said, "he's dead" back to us. We just stared at her for a few moments because we couldn't believe that came out of her mouth. We are aware he is dead, thank you for that information though. 

Then, I was writing in my journal Wednesday night before bed.. And then Sorella Defranchi comes around the corner and says, "hey Sorella?" in a really concerned voice, so I look up and she screamed and she had a ninja mask on her face.. It scared me so bad, but I still didn't scream.. Again, silent suffering. I don't understand why that happens! Haha.. Oh, and she filmed it. 

Thursday morning, we went to see Lucia Casella, one of our less actives. I swear she just continues to get cooler with each visit. She is this older woman and her husband is deceased, but during this visit, we learned that she used to ballroom dance with her husband for competitions. How cool is that? Haha... I told her that I look a Latin ballroom class and how it was the worst because all the guys were shorter than me. She completely understood how I felt. Haha.. :) 

Then we went to the Amato household to eat pranzo. This family is absolutely crazy so I prepared for the worst. The food ended up being okay.. Definitely not something I would crave again... But I left with the biggest headache. Sorella Amato who is the only member of the church.. She is like 40 and she still lives with her parents and sisters, but she doesn't speak Italian. She yells Italian velocemente which means quickly. And then she gets frustrated when you don't understand.. And I'm like, "I don't even speak slow Italian that well!" Haha.. Big headache, let me tell you. Then at the end of the pranzo, she had us taste this drink. It is frizzante water with mint syrup in it. I guess the mint is supposed to calm your stomach down after a large meal... But I just felt like I was drinking mouthwash. 

On Friday, we did weekly planning like usual. When we began looking at the past week we had, it hadn't been bad, but it definitely wasn't the best when you looked at the week as a whole, but Friday had a bunch of little silver linings in the clouds. :)  So we are planning, and then our phone rings. And it was Angelo! The guard who helped us find Angela's graduation. We lost contact for awhile because he didn't seem interested, but he called to say he wanted us to come share a message with him at work that afternoon. We were like, okay! We'd love to! So we had an appointment with Eleanora and then we were going to see Angelo. As we were walking to Eleonora's, it literally felt like a damp furnace outside. It was so hot! But by the time we left her house, the sky was all gray and cloudy. We leave, and it begins to pour down rain.. Like huge raindrops and we were soaked within a few seconds. We were so happy and all the people on the streets began to run for cover and they kept saying, "Vieni qua" which is come here.. And we were like no! È bello! Haha.. We looked like drowned rats by the time we got to Angelo's, but it was so much fun and it felt amazing! Then we were supposed to meet with Jennifer, but she wasn't home AGAIN! She has been working so much lately, but while we were waiting for her, we met this adorable woman named Anna who is also from Nigeria. She is neighbors with Jennifer, and we switched numbers and she said we should call her to set up an appointment to come back. Oh bonus, she also speaks English. :) Although teaching in English is hard now that I've been doing it in Italian. Ahh. So many silver linings in the literal clouds. 

The coolness of the rain didn't last long though as Saturday was 110 degrees and humid.. Then on Sunday it rained again... The weather is literally freaking me out. I never know what to expect. 

Saturday morning, we went to a funeral for a guy who I still don't know who he was. I guess he was an active member of the church. It ended up being a good thing we went, because they needed a pianist. I also decided while I was there that I am with mom on the whole funeral thing. I don't like them. Haha, so the closing song was "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again". That song is like impossible to sing without crying, so I'm not sure why they brought that on themselves. And then the stake president asked me to play I Am A Child of God after the closing prayer to bring the spirit in while they took the casket out. And I played that song over and over and over again for a solid 25 minutes. I was dying inside. It might become Love at Home for me mom. It was horrible. 

Now for some other funny things... Sorella Waddoups says we are to drink 2-3 liters of water a day... That is so much, but sometimes I get so sick of water.. And I just want to drink something else.. But I don't like the milk here just plain. I'll eat it over cereal, but in all reality... It's rather gross. So, Sorella Defranchi had the genius idea of making horchatas. I tried them at BYU before, but now I am addicted. They are so good. She just makes it with rice milk, vanilla flavoring, and cinnamon... And it tastes so good! :) We will be trying to make a granita with that this week. And we will let you know how that turns out. We think we could make bank on this genius idea of ours. 

Then I have gotten a bit creative with my food. We decided to make separate food as a companionship so we don't share food anymore... Which is good with me because now I get a whole jar of Nutella to myself... ;) But, I also don't have any recipes. So I've been eating lots of curry rice, pasta with pesto, and pasta with red sauce. I also tried to make a peanut butter Thai sauce, but that was not my best idea. Haha... Any recipes that anybody has that only take a few ingredients that I can find here in Italy would be so helpful. Like 3-6 ingredients. 

Then one time during DDM, we were talking about how crazy some of the people here are.. And Anziano Bellini was like, "On a scale from 1 to Sicilian, how crazy are they?" Haha.. Then the Enna anziani brought their investigator to Jennifer's baptism. They told us she was slightly crazy.. But we thought she was really cool. So either, I've been in Catania too long and my definition of normal and crazy are now really skewed, or the Enna anziani don't know what they are talking about, or both... :p

Also, for all those who are interested... Namely dad and Jake.. We get 200€ a month on our cards. That means that my mission is one of those that costs WAY more than $400 a month! So this is my apology to all the other missionaries in the world. 

And today, we are going bowling. Yes, bowling while I could do anything else in Italy, but if we go bowling... I get to wear pants and that might be the real reason. I guess y'all will never know. ;)

Okay, so first of all... 1 Nephi 13 blew my mind when I read it in Italian this week. When you read through that chapter slowly, you see so much more meaning. I personally think it is awesome that the BOM talks about Christopher Columbus and the revolutionary war and everything that would happen after with the restoration of the gospel more than 2000 years before any of that actually happened. 

Then a few weeks ago, I talked about a scripture in 1 Nephi 10 where it says we need to rely on our redeemer, and I said I was pondering what relying meant.... Well, in Italian, it uses the verb for "to confide". When I think about the word confide, I think about trust. So we are to trust in Christ. Then I was thinking about the verb to trust. In Italian, the verb is reflexive meaning whoever is doing the verb does the verb to their own self. So, it technically means that we are trusting ourselves to God. I really liked that because this past week, I kept pondering, how do I become the instrument that he wants me to be. And the answer is... By trusting myself to him. By leaving behind the life I had before, by being willing to change, and by being willing to put myself in his hands. There is a poem used by Boyd K. Packer with an auctioneer and an old violin... Afterglow made a song about it. But here are my thoughts on it. We are all broken humans. We have all made mistakes, and we all need a bit of tuning up by the hand of the master. We can choose whether "to be sold" for $2 or $3000 by accepting the atonement or not. When we rely on our redeemer, we are trusting ourselves into his care knowing that he will make us worth more than we could ever be on our own. Heavenly Father truly loves us, and he wants us to become the best that we can be. But we can't do that by ourselves. We need the atonement of Jesus Christ and the enabling power that comes with it in order to do hard things. Long explanation to a one word change. Haha..But it was really enlightening for me to connect all of that together. 

Okay. I think this email is long enough. ;) 

Vi voglio bene! 

Love, 

Sorella Flansberg